Hours after President Barack Obama called on Congress to ban military-style assault weapons, one man's protest raised some eyebrows at a Utah store.

An Odgen woman took some photos of a man inside a J.C. Penney on Wednesday with an assault weapon slung over his shoulder.
Cindy Yorgason says that even for a firearm-friendly state like Utah, it was out of the ordinary.

Yorgason took two photos of the man and posted them on Facebook, where they received hundreds of comments and have been shared more than a thousand times.

The Salt Lake Tribune identified the man as 22-year-old Joseph Kelley, who says he was trying to demonstrate that the weapons aren't dangerous when handled by law-abiding people.

You don't cause a panic if it's concealed. A person walking into a store with an AR-15 in full view is very likely to incite panic.

Not that I agree with the way the guy did this... But I do understand the point he was trying to make, which is reinforced by the comments here.

It's the same gun whether it's tucked in his belt concealed, or slung on his back. You are in no more danger with it slung on his back than you are with it hidden away. And in fact, you're likely safer with the gun visible. To a responsible gun owner, there's no difference. To someone completely unfamiliar with guns, it's reason to freak the **** out. Even if that person would be fine knowing there's concealed carry and someone in the vicinity is probably carrying right then. Why should the simple visibility make that drastic of a difference between knowing somebody's probably carrying a gun and "Holy **** that guy has a gun!" If more people were safely and responsibly familiar with guns, maybe we could bridge that gap between the two reactions....

Not saying everyone should throw their gun over their shoulder and head out to pick up some Cap'n Crunch. But seeing a weapon carried in public by a normal responsible citizen shouldn't instantly cause terror.

Don't confuse the people.. They live in their own world and do not understand things are not all the same.. I have never been scared seeing most people carry weapons in public.. It might be, most are law abiding citizens.. Now the minority of that, sure you have a point.. But then you are not trying to restrict them, you are trying to do it to the whole, which is the problem.

Sure, you don't normally see this in most areas. He is making a point. Especially over the whole so called scary looking rifle law. No rifles killed those kids. It was handguns, handguns that could be easily concealed. But that is not the main topic for some reason by the media(who glamorize the murderers) and politicians..

Don't confuse the people.. They live in their own world and do not understand things are not all the same.. I have never been scared seeing most people carry weapons in public.. It might be, most are law abiding citizens.. Now the minority of that, sure you have a point.. But then you are not trying to restrict them, you are trying to do it to the whole, which is the problem.

Sure, you don't normally see this in most areas. He is making a point. Especially over the whole so called scary looking rifle law. No rifles killed those kids. It was handguns, handguns that could be easily concealed. But that is not the main topic for some reason by the media(who glamorize the murderers) and politicians..

Are you sure? Ive read conflicting reports on this. Originally it was the AR-15 they found in the trunk that was never used, then it was used and it was a shotgun found in the trunk.

Not that I agree with the way the guy did this... But I do understand the point he was trying to make, which is reinforced by the comments here.

It's the same gun whether it's tucked in his belt concealed, or slung on his back. You are in no more danger with it slung on his back than you are with it hidden away. And in fact, you're likely safer with the gun visible. To a responsible gun owner, there's no difference. To someone completely unfamiliar with guns, it's reason to freak the **** out. Even if that person would be fine knowing there's concealed carry and someone in the vicinity is probably carrying right then. Why should the simple visibility make that drastic of a difference between knowing somebody's probably carrying a gun and "Holy **** that guy has a gun!" If more people were safely and responsibly familiar with guns, maybe we could bridge that gap between the two reactions....

Not saying everyone should throw their gun over their shoulder and head out to pick up some Cap'n Crunch. But seeing a weapon carried in public by a normal responsible citizen shouldn't instantly cause terror.

All joking aside, I don't like a wep being slung so its barrel is near horizontal. I guess it is that "treat every gun like it's loaded, keep it pointed downrange, don't aim it at someone unless you plan to shoot them" thing I was raised with. Not that it is more dangerous to sling an unloaded weapon in that way, but it gets my attention in a negative way. I consider it poor etiquette.